Round 1 Feature Match: Billy Brake Versus Paul Levitin

November 17th, 2012

What a way to kick off YCS Seattle!Billy Brake and Paul Levitin have each won two YCS tournaments in their prestigious Dueling careers, and today they’re both running brand new decks with clutch cards from Abyss Rising.Brake has thrown in his lot with the uber-popular Mermail Atlantean strategy, a fast, deadly combo deck that’s seeing a ton of representation here this morning.Levitin is running Prophecy with the new SpellbookofFate and TheGrandSpellbookTower.He’s running an exciting build that combos BreakertheMagicalWarrior with ApprenticeMagician, along with tech cards like Copycat.This has the potential to be an incredible Match!

Brake opened the Match Summoning GenexUndine, sending AtlanteanDragoons to the Graveyard to get his GenexController.Dragoons’ effect got him MermailAbyssmegalo, and he discarded Deep Sea Diva and another AtlanteanDragoons to Special Summon it.Abyssmegalo’s effect got Brake Abyss-sphere from his Deck, and the second copy of Dragoons got him AtlanteanMarksman.

“Why do you have to do this to me, Billy?”laughed Levitin.“It had to be that hand.”

Brake Set two cards to his back row.He had four cards in hand.

Levitin had a hand of BreakertheMagicalWarrior; Tragoedia; WonderWand; Copycat; DarkHole; and Maxx “C”.He took a moment to try and consider how he’d play his turn, then settled on Summoning BreakertheMagicalWarrior to target Brake’s Set Raigeki Break for destruction.Brake Chained it, discarding GenexController to destroy Breaker.Levitin blasted Abyssmegalo and Undine with DarkHole and ended. When Brake responded with Abyss-sphere, Levitin Chained Maxx“C”.Levitin drew another Maxx “C” when Brake Special Summoned Mermail Abysspike.It was destroyed at the end of the turn (Brake couldn’t use its effect, and had no intention of doing so, since Abyss-sphere negates it).

Brake drew to four cards in hand: Levitin had four himself, and the fields were bare.He activated PotofDuality revealing Tragoedia; AllureofDarkness; and GenexController.He took his Allure.Did he have another Undine?Nope, Brake just Set one card to his back row.

Levitin drew ApprenticeMagician and Summoned it.Brake activated Abyss-sphere to Special Summon MermailAbysslinde, letting her be destroyed so he could Special Summon MermailAbysspike.He discarded AtlanteanHeavyInfantry for Abysspike’s effect, destroying Apprentice and getting another Undine.Levitin drew two cards with Maxx “C”.

Brake Normal Summoned Undine, getting Controller and kicking Dragoons to the Graveyard to fetch another MermailAbyssmegalo.He drew two cards with AllureofDarkness, banishing his controller, and then attacked for 1200 Battle damage with Undine: Levitin Special Summoned Tragoedia in Defense Position.

Levitin drew another Tragoedia, now holding MonsterReborn; WonderWand; Copycat; and another ApprenticeMagician.Brake had five cards in hand, with Abysspike and Undine on the field.Levitin Summoned Copycat to copy Abysspike, then played WonderWand to swing over Undine.Tragoedia attacked over Abysspike, and in Main Phase 2 Levitin sent Copycat to the Graveyard to draw TreacherousTrapHole and SpellbookofSecrets with WonderWand.

Brake Summoned DeepSeaDiva to Special Summon AtlanteanHeavyInfantry from his Deck, then used his extra Normal Summon to Summon AtlanteanMarksman.He followed up by discarding MoulinglaciatheElementalLord and his third DeepSeaDiva to Special Summon another Abyssmegalo!He Tributed Heavy Infantry to allow Abyssmegalo to attack twice, and destroyed Tragoedia with the Heavy Infantry’s effect in the process.Levitin had 6800 Life Points left.Brake attacked once with Abyssmegalo, drawing out Levitin’s second Tragoedia.Brake clucked his tongue: “You don’t do anything, but you stop EVERYTHING!”He moved to Main Phase 2.“What’s the best choice here…”He Set a single Spell or Trap.

Levitin drew SpellbookofFate – not great with no Spellbooks in his Graveyard, but he aimed to fix that.He activated Spellbook of Secrets to get SpellbookMagicianofProphecy, then Summoned it to get SpellbookofPower from his Deck.He activated it, boosting the Magician’s ATK, and attacked over AtlanteanMarksman to destroy it.That triggered Power’s effect, letting Levitin get The Grand Spellbook Tower from his Deck.Now with 3000 ATK, Tragoedia attacked over Abyssmegalo!Brake now had just one card in hand; one card Set; and Diva on the field.Levitin had five cards in hand; Spellbook Magician on the table; and Tragoedia raring to go in Attack Position.He Set Treacherous, Set Fate, and activated TheGrandSpellbookTower!

Brake was suddenly under the gun.He activated PotofDuality, revealing DarkHole, Gorz the Emissary of Darkness, and MermailAbysslinde from the top of his deck.“DarkHole’s a pretty good card!”Levitin grinned.Brake laughed back: “All you have is two monsters, and one’s Magician!”He ended up taking Gorz: “Not a great card when your opponent knows you have it,” remarked Levitin.Brake turned Diva to Defense Position and ended, leaving Levitin to flip Spellbook of Fate.He banished SpellbookofPower to bounce away Brake’s back row card.Next turn he drewSpellbookofSecrets, then returned Fate to his Deck with Tower to draw High Priestess of Prophecy!He pitched Apprentice Magician to steal DeepSeaDiva with Tragoedia’s effect; Tributed Tragoedia and Magician for High Priestess; then brought back Spellbook Magician with MonsterReborn.He Xyz Summoned DaigustoPhoenix, then got SpellbookofPower with SpellbookofSecrets.He boosted Priestess’ ATK with Power, and when Brake Special Summoned Gorz the Emissary of Darkness and an EmissaryofDarknessToken, Levitin played his last card – TreacherousTrapHole – to finish the Duel!

Billy Brake has an explosive opening with double AtlanteanDragoons and MermailAbyssmegalo.But Paul Levitin overcomes his slow start to repeatedly batter down Brake’s field, and steal the win with HighPriestessofProphecy and a clutch TreacherousTrapHole on Gorz!What a Duel!Brake would have to win two games back-to-back, or he’d be on the X-1 bracket for Day 1.

Brake opened Game 2 with GenexUndine, getting GenexController and sending AtlanteanDragoons to his Graveyard.He got MermailAbyssmegalo, then pitched two more Dragoons to Special SummonAbyssmegalo and get Abyss-sphere from his Deck!The Dragoons got him DeepSeaDiva and AtlanteanHeavyInfantry.Triple Dragoons!He Set two cards to his back row.

Levitin had SpellbookofPower; Spellbook of Secrets; SpellbookofLife; HighPriestessofProphecy; BreakertheMagicalWarrior; and Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress.He Summoned BreakertheMagicalWarrior, but targeted Abyss-sphere for destruction.Brake Chained it, bringing out MermailAbysslinde to Special Summon MermailAbysspike, tossing another Heavy Infantry for Abysspike’s effect. That destroyed Breaker and got Brake another GenexUndine.“I Set it there cuz I was like, ‘he’s gonna Break the same spot again’!”Brake laughed.Levitin used SpellbookofSecrets to get SpellbookofWisdom, then revealed Wisdom, Life, and Power to Special Summon HighPriestessofProphecy!He activated Power to boost up Priestess’ ATK, then attacked over Undine for 2300 Battle Damage.That triggered Power’s effect, getting TheGrandSpellbookTower from his Deck.He banished Secrets to destroy Abyssmegalo in Main Phase 2 with the Priestess’ effect.

Champion or not, Brake was nowhere near throwing in the towel.He Summoned DeepSeaDiva, and was elated to not see a Maxx “C”! He Special Summoned AtlanteanHeavyInfantry from his Deck. He used his extra Normal Summon to bring out another Diva, then used her to Special Summon Atlantean Marksman.Brake started running the numbers: he eventually Tuned Marksman to Diva to Synchro Summon T.G. Hyper Librarian, then tuned Diva and Infantry for ArmoryArm, drawing with Librarian’s effect!He equipped Library with ArmoryArm; swung over High Priestess; and then made a direct attack with Abysspike to drop Levitin to 3000 Life Points.Brake Set a second spell or trap.

Levitin drew the Maxx “C”, one turn too late, then drew Tragoedia with TheGrandSpellbookTower, again one turn too late!He Summoned Lyla, using her effect to destroy Brake’s Set Pot of Duality: a bluff.He then revealed Spellbook of Wisdom to activate SpellbookofLife, hoping to banish Breaker for High Priestess of Prophecy: Brake Chained RaigekiBreak, discarding his GenexController to destroy Life before it could resolve.That left Levitin with Wisdom, Tragoedia, and Maxx “C” in hand, with Lyla on the field in Defense Position.Levitin Set Wisdom and sent Copycat, DarkHole, and ChaosSorcerer to his Graveyard in the End Phase with Lyla’s ability.

Brake Special Summoned ArmoryArm, and Levitin drew EffectVeiler with Maxx “C”.Brake Normal Summoned GenexUndine, sending wanting to send AtlanteanMarksman to his Graveyard, but not realizing he’d used them all!He sent MoulinglaciatheElementalLord to the Graveyard instead, getting GenexController, and Levitin was scooping up moments later.

Billy Brake comes out swinging with not one, not two, but three AtlanteanDragoons on the first turn, evening up the Match score to one Duel-win apiece!This last game would decide who would move on with a 1-0 record.

Levitin had two Temperance; two BreakertheMagicalWarrior; DarkHole; and The Grand Spellbook Tower.He Summoned Breaker.“No Undine.For once in life.Please no Undine.”

Nope!Brake Summoned GenexUndine, kicking AtlanteanDragoons from his Deck to get MermailAbyssmegalo and GenexController.He discarded MermailAbysslinde and AtlanteanMarksman to Special Summon MermailAbyssmegalo, getting Abyss-sphere.Abyssmegalo attacked over Breaker, and Undine made a direct attack.Brake Set a Spell or Trap.

Levitin drew High Priestess of Prophecy.“Man, this is so bad.”He Normal Summoned Breaker, forcing out Brake’s Abyss-sphere, which he played into an Abysslinde to Special Summon another Abyssmegalo.Breaker attacked over Undine to destroy it, and Levitin cleared the field with DarkHole in Main Phase 2.

Brake drew to five cards in hand.He activated Pot of Avarice to return two MermailAbyssmegalo; Abysslinde; Undine; and Dragoons back to his Deck, drawing two cards.He drew two more with AllureofDarkness, banishing Controller for it, and then took back his Abysslinde and Marksman with Salvage!Brake now had seven cards in hand!

“Just seven.Just seven cards,” laughed Levitin.

Brake continued on, Summoning Marksman for a direct attack to drop Levitin to 4900 Life Points.That let him Special Summon AtlanteanDragoons for another direct attack, and a Set Spell or Trap finished out his turn.

Paul Levitin plays an amazing Duel in Game 1, but Billy Brake battles back to take Game 2 and Game 3!Brake just kept hitting those GenexUndines, and knew precisely what to do to shut down Levitin’s strategy.Brake moves on with his first victory of the day, and the tournament’s first win for Mermails!